“Keep your breath to cool your porridge, — and I shall keep mine to swell my song.”
Pride and Prejudice has inspired filmmakers, authors, and of course readers for 200 years, so it is perhaps not wonderful that there currently are three musical adaptations of Pride and Prejudice that we know of. We blogged about one last week that should see Broadway next year sometime, and we previously have written about another adaptation that is being seriously considered by some regional theaters. Ms. Place of Jane Austen’s World reminds us that the latter production is posting an mp3 of a different song from the soundtrack each week; the current song available for download is “A Husband,” sung by Mrs. Bennet. We have a CD of this soundtrack and will be reviewing it as soon as we have some quiet time to give it the proper attention. A sampler of each song is available on the play’s Web site.
Ms. Place also discovered a third adaptation, first performed in 1986 and more recently staged in 2003 after some rewriting. Samples of the songs from that adaptation are also available.
The good news to take from this is that it is likely that at least one of these plays might be coming to a theater near you!
August 14th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
There is also a new opera of Pride & Prejudice written by Kirke Mechem. The world premiere of Act I was performed earlier this month in San Francisco, California (near to where I live).
Excerpt from http://www.goldstarevents.com/events/san-francisco-ca/san-francisco-choral-society-concert.html:
Mechem’s new opera-in-progress, Pride and Prejudice, is based on the Jane Austen novel. When staged, the completed opera will take place on a stage split between house and garden with chorus, dancers, and a host of characters. Mechem says: “My music is, of course, not in the style of the period (late 18th and early 19th century), but I did often hint at the period, especially in the dances. The minuet, for example, could have been composed in Jane Austen’s time. This is the most lyrical opera I have written. Like the novel, the opera changes gradually from light comedy to poignant drama. The first scene, even most of the first act, is full of gaiety, irony, humor, and flirtation. I begin the story at Netherfield Park instead of at the Bennets’ house. This was necessary to get the action going as quickly as possible. The chorus represents the townspeople and neighbors whom Mr. Bingley has invited to his ball. They are very important in setting the tone and in facilitating the exposition. I have used Jane Austen’s words, or a close equivalent, as often as I could, and I have given many of her important observations to the chorus.”
August 16th, 2007 at 10:34 am
There is also a musical from the 1950’s called First Impressions that starred Polly Bergen and Farley Granger (don’t know if this was mentioned before).